Caption: 这张由美国宇航局水手10号探测器拍摄的照片展示了用肉眼观察时金星的样子。金星被笼罩在以二氧化碳为主的厚厚的大气中，从未露出炙热的表面。
Credit: 美国宇航局/JPL-加州理工学院 credit link

Caption: This image is a computer-aided rendering of the surface of the planet Venus. Since visual light cannot penetrate the thick clouds in Venus' atmosphere, the image was obtained with radio waves. NASA's space probe Megallan, launched in 1989 mapped Venus' surface between 1990 and 1994.
Credit: NASA/JPL credit link

Caption: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns. This image composition is amazing. In the far background of the landscape we see a chain of mountains that seems to mirror the structure of the Milky Way in the sky above. The strong daylight-like colours of the landscape are caused by the Moon, the bright light at the top of the image. Taken in Kinabalu, Malaysia, in February 2019, this image shows the alignment of planets and the Moon, conveying the idea of the ecliptic as the central line of the Zodiac, the plane within which all planets orbit the Sun. The ecliptic is the central line of the Zodiac, so the region of about five to 10 degrees either side of the ecliptic is where the constellations of the Zodiac are located. Starting from the horizon towards the bottom left of the image we can see the planets Venus, Saturn and Jupiter. The planets have different cultural significance for people around the world, and are deeply embedded in social, religious and practical aspects of life. For example, Wardaman traditions of Indigenous Australians associate the planets with ancestor spirits who traverse the Celestial Road (ecliptic). The appearance and disappearance of planets in the sky are associated with various ceremonies. For example, when Venus starts being the “Morning star” after having been the “Evening star”, this marks the Banumbirr ceremony for the Yolnu people of Arnhem Land, in Australia. The image also shows the constellations Scorpius, Aquila, Lupus and Triangulum Australe, the asterism of the Teapot, and the two pointer stars Alpha and Beta Centauri. The constellations, asterisms and individual stars within them have significance in many different cultures. Malaysia, being close to the equator, has had connections to the north as well as to the south and almost the whole sky is visible over the course of the year. The star Antares is seen by the Kokatha people of the Western Desert as Kogolongo, the red tailed black cockatoo, while the Boorong refer to it as Djuit, the red-rumped parrot. The two stars which form the stinger of Scorpius (Shaula and Lesath), are called Karik Karik, the Australian Kestrel.
Credit: Likai Lin/IAU OAE

Caption: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.   Taken in Romania in August 2012, this image shows two of the most recognisable constellations in the sky, Orion and Taurus. Orion, the Hunter, is found near the horizon. The most prominent star visible in this image is Betelgeuse, while the asterism of Orion’s belt is formed by three aligned bright stars. Just above Orion we can find Taurus, one of the constellations of the Zodiac. As the Zodiac is inherited from Babylon, The Bull of Heaven represents a mighty but dangerous creature that was defeated by King Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu. They cut the Bull in half and sacrificed the animal to the gods in order to protect their people. Taurus is also home to the star cluster Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters. Two planets are visible: Venus, the bright spot near the fence, and Jupiter, the bright spot at the top, next to the Bull’s face. Different cultures have included the stars of these constellations in their own mythology. The Romanians, for instance, after Christianisation identified four other constellations using some of the stars of Orion and others surrounding it. One such constellation is called Trisfetitele (the Three Saints), which is associated with the three stars comprising Orion's Belt, representing the Three Hierarchs Basil, Gregory and John. This same asterism is also called Three Wise Men, Kings from the East or just Three Kings — all of these names being rooted in the Christian religion. The agricultural calendar, in contrast, led farmers to define two other constellations, the Little Plough and the Sickle. Both are seen in the southern half of the Orion rectangle; the Little Plough is drawn by connecting the southern quadrilateral with Orion’s left shoulder, and the Sickle is formed by connecting Orion’s left foot (Rigel) with the belt stars, forming an arch and completing the form of a hoe. In the cultural calendar, these constellations were used to announce the harvest of wheat/grain. Finally, the fourth Romanian constellation is the Great Auger, where Orion’s belt represents the handle of the auger, and Betelgeuse is the tip, facing towards Pollux in Gemini. This constellation is associated with treasure, as Romanian peasants believe that the Auger points to the treasure when they approach the end of the world. Most of the official star names in Orion are Arabic; Mintaka (meaning “belt”) is at the waist; Alnitak (meaning “girdle”) and Alnilam (meaning “string”) are at the belt; and Rigel (meaning foot) is at the left foot. The star on the left shoulder is named Bellatrix, the Latin term for a female warrior. The star at the right leg is called Saiph, for the sword or sabre of the Arabic Orion.
Credit: Alex Conu/IAU OAE

Caption: 这组精美的图像是在2019年12月17日至2020年5月25日期间，在多米尼加共和国的圣多明各拍摄的，展示了在地球上看到的金星相位。当金星和地球围绕太阳运行时，我们观察到金星被阳光照亮的不同半球部分，与月相类似。序列图的下方清晰地展示了金星在较远位置时，呈现为小而明亮的凸状，并最终在接近太阳时达到所有行星中最大的视直径（图像上方），呈现为一细长的弦状。在最后一帧中，仅有2.8%的金星表面被照亮。
Credit: 克里斯托弗·巴埃斯/国际天文学联合会教育办公室 (CC BY 4.0)

Caption: 这是2015年在法国滨海夏朗德省的叙热尔拍摄的令人着迷的金星系列照片，历时六个月。这些相位与我们所看到的月相非常相似，且成因也相近。金星只有半边被太阳照亮，而从地球上看，我们有时只能看到被照亮部分的一部分，这取决于太阳、地球和金星的相对位置。由于水星和金星的轨道都位于太阳和地球轨道之内，它们都会因此呈现出相位变化。金星的相位会随着其相对于太阳和地球的位置变化而渐变。这一系列照片生动地展现了金星从‘凸状’到纤细‘弦状’的相位转变。使用红外滤镜能让我们在白天捕捉到金星致密而永久云层的清晰细节，为人们提供了一个观察这颗神秘行星大气层的独特视角。
Credit: 斯特凡·冈萨雷斯/国际天文学联合会教育办公室 (CC BY 4.0)

Caption: 这张照片是 2023 年 2 月在美国宾夕法尼亚州卢泽恩县上空用智能手机拍摄的，让我们得以一窥合相现象，这是一种迷人的天文现象，当从我们的视角看到两个或两个以上的天体在天空中紧紧相邻时就会发生这种现象，尽管这些天体实际上并不靠近彼此。在这张照片中，木星（上面）的光辉、金星的魅力（中间）和月亮熟悉的光芒（下面）在微妙的云层和树线轮廓的背景下翩翩起舞，这一刻值得珍藏。
Credit: Joslynn Appel/IAU OAE (CC BY 4.0)

Caption: 在这张合成图中，可以看到水星（左）和金星（右）都在向日落进发。水星和金星降落时的相位都被捕捉到了，非常漂亮。从地球上看，太阳系中并非所有行星或卫星都会出现相位。出现这种现象是因为金星和水星的轨道位于地球轨道和太阳之间，有时我们只能看到每颗行星某一部分受到光照。它们的相位与我们看到的月球相位相似。
Credit: 玛塞拉-朱利亚-佩斯 (CC BY 4.0)